Analysis of Air Quality in the United States and Health Concerns

Austin Steckler

Importnace of Air Quality

The ongoing battle to improve air quality in the United States highlights how crucial it is for everyone's health now and in the future. As the world becomes more connected, clean air matters a lot. It's not just a problem for places with obvious pollution issues – even countries with good education and healthcare can struggle with bad air. Air quality isn't only about health; it's also about safety, politics, and money. Because information and problems can spread fast, clean air becomes everybody's concern. Making the air better for everyone is tough because there are many factors involved, but like solving any hard problem, breaking it into smaller parts that relate to different groups helps. To do that, we need to figure out how to measure air quality's effects. Among many things to measure, looking at the air quality index is a simple and shared way to understand how clean or polluted the air is and how it affects health.

What is air quality and how is it measured?

The Air Quality Index (AQI) is a system for measuring the quality of the air we breathe, providing a standardized and accessible measure of air pollution's potential impact on human health. AQI takes into account multiple air pollutants that can effect the respiratory and cardiovascular system, such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and carbon monoxide. Each pollutant is assigned a numerical value, which is then converted into an index value on a scale that ranges from 0 to 500 or higher, depending on the specific AQI system being used. The AQI scale is divided into categories, typically ranging from Good to Hazardous.

The calculation of AQI involves several steps. First, measured pollutant concentrations are collected from monitoring stations. These concentrations are then compared to specific health-based standards or guidelines set by environmental agencies. The highest measured concentration among the pollutants is selected as the "dominant pollutant" for calculating the AQI. This dominant pollutant's concentration is then plugged into a formula that translates it into a numerical index value. The resulting AQI value is matched to a corresponding category and color code, indicating the potential health implications associated with the current air quality. AQI values can fluctuate throughout the day based on changes in pollutant concentrations, meteorological conditions, and human activities.

The AQI's significance lies in its ability to provide a clear and easily understandable representation of air quality to the public, empowering individuals to make informed decisions about outdoor activities and potential health risks. Furthermore, it serves as a valuable tool for policymakers and regulatory agencies to identify trends, develop effective pollution control strategies, and communicate the urgency of addressing air quality concerns. In short, the AQI bridges the gap between complex air quality data and the general population.

Lung Cancer, Bronchitis Cancer, Chronic, and Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Lung cancer is a tumor that grows in the lungs. It is one of the most common cancers worldwide and is primarily caused by long-term exposure to harmful substances, with smoking being the leading risk factor. However, air quality could play a significant role in the development of lung cancer. Pollutants can be inhaled into the lungs, causing chronic inflammation and DNA damage, which can eventually lead to the development of cancerous cells. Studies have shown that areas with poor air quality have higher incidences of lung cancer, so understanding and analysing air quality is very important.

Bronchitis and COPD are both chronic respiratory conditions that affect the airways and lung function. Bronchitis is characterized by inflammation of the bronchial tubes. COPD is a broader term that encompasses chronic bronchitis and emphysema. Emphysema involves the destruction of lung tissue and the enlargement of air spaces, leading to reduced lung elasticity and impaired airflow. Both conditions are strongly influenced by air quality.

Purpose of this report

The primary objective of this tutorial is to delve into the realm of air quality trends across the United States, employing visualization techniques to offer a clearer understanding of how air quality has evolved over time. By harnessing the power of data visualization, we aim to unravel intricate patterns and fluctuations in air quality measurements, thereby providing an insightful portrayal of the changing landscape of pollutants in the atmosphere. Through the meticulous examination of historical air quality data, we seek to identify long-term trends, seasonal variations, and potential hotspots of concern.

Data Collection

Data Sources

All of the air quality data comes from the Enviormental Protection Agency. the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA ) is a regulatory agency within the United States government, responsible for safeguarding and promoting environmental health and sustainability. The EPA's mission revolves around formulating and enforcing regulations aimed at curbing pollution, mitigating climate change, and preserving natural resources.

All of the cancer data comes from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The CDC's mission is to protect the nation's health and safety by preventing and controlling the spread of diseases, injuries, and other health threats. The CDC is actively involved in cancer surveillance, prevention, and control. Through initiatives like the National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR ) and the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER ) program, the CDC collects and analyzes data on cancer incidence, prevalence, and outcomes. This information is essential for understanding cancer trends, identifying risk factors, and guiding targeted interventions.

Read data from CSV file and store into a dataframe

Clean the Data

Seperate the data for later use

Importing Cancer data from CDC

Cleaning the Data

Seperate the data for later use

Importing COPD Data from CDC

Clean data up

Exploratory Analysis & Data Visualization

Visualising the Air quality Data

The graphs above show the positive trend of air quality in the United States. Over the last 20 years, there was a consistent decline in the median Air Quality Index (AQI) and 90th percentile AQI. Lastly the last graph shows the number of 'Good Days' as a percent of the days observed.

The graph above shows median AQI over 20 years across every state in the united states. To get these lines, the air quality data was averaged for each county in each state. This is not nessisrly the best way to jusdge weather a state has a high or low AQI becucuase size/population of a county can skew the data. But in this senario averaging is a good indicator of wheather or not air quality is getting better or worse.

Visualize cancer data

Mapping

First, merge data with fips codes so each datapoint has a loction

Slice data so it can be graphed

Get map data

Display Maps

Air quality Maps

This map shows

Analysis